Policeman catalogs 237 Worcester squares memorializing veterans

Sunday

Jun 15, 2014 at 9:44 PMJun 15, 2014 at 10:09 PM

By Donna Boynton TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — Sean M . Lovely Sr. knows the city by heart, not just because he is the fourth generation to be raised in the city or because he patrols the city as a police officer. He knows it by heart because of the sacrifices Worcester residents have made in wars and military conflicts dating back to the Civil War and the research he has done to tell the intimate history behind each of the 237 veterans memorial squares named in their honor.

Officer Lovely, a Persian Gulf War veteran who served in the Army with the 82nd Airborne Division, spent 10 years researching each veteran for whom a square is named, and in recent weeks, hundreds of hours building a website that serves as a catalog of all the veteran squares in the city, but as a virtual memorial to countless others killed while serving their country for whom there is no dedicated memorial.

The City of Worcester Veterans Square Project went online June 7, and is a searchable database developed by Officer Lovely that tells the history of each veteran's square in the city.

The site contains a link to each square that has a picture of the memorial marker, the square's address, photos he found in his research or were donated by friends or family, military documents, and any other records that Officer Lovely could find to tell the story behind the name.

For instance, Antul Brothers Square at 950 West Boylston St, in front of St. Christopher's Church, is named in honor of brothers Army Pvt. Henry J. Antul who was killed in action in France on June 23, 1944, and Army Pvt. Walter P. Antul who was killed in action Jan. 22, 1944, in Luxembourg.

Officer Lovely includes documentation of how the brothers, both buried in American military cemeteries in Europe, were later returned to be buried here. He has included a photo of the brothers' wake held in 1947 at their parents' home at 27 Dixfield Road, with the then 6-year-old son of Pvt. Walter Antul standing with his grandmother near the flag-draped caskets.

The Veterans Square Project is about honoring the lives and families of military personnel who paid the ultimate sacrifice — to remind people that while squares such as Kelley Square and Brosnihan Square are used as points of reference in giving directions, they are places of reverence.

While some signposts are used to hang yard sale signs, these are significant memorials that deserve respect.

"People see these monuments and don't know who they are," Officer Lovely said. "Maybe there are family members who moved far away and this project might reconnect them with their family and bring meaning to their family member's sacrifices and patriotism."

Officer Lovely squeezed his research in between time off the job and time with his family. The father of four young children — ages 13, 10, 8 and 2 — he spent much of the time creating his website with his toddler in his lap.

While Officer Lovely has folders of research on each veteran gathered from places such as the public library or newspaper archives, he is still looking for more — maybe there is a yearbook photo that a former classmate can scan and send him to include on the site; maybe a wife, mother or girlfriend has a letter written from the veteran that she would be willing to share.

And he is looking to tell the story of any Worcester veteran killed while in the military who may not have a memorial square, but whose story is still an important part of history.

As he photographed each veterans square, he made a list of those that might need maintenance and submitted a 30-page inventory to City Manager Edward M. Augustus.

Within eight hours of receiving the list, the city's Department of Public Works was repairing signs and making other needed improvements identified by Officer Lovely. Ninety-three of the city's 237 veterans squares had various deficiencies, said Karen R. Greenwood, the city's Veterans' Services agent/director, and most of them have already been addressed.

Ms. Greenwood combined Officer Lovely's information with her master list, and continues to identify work needed at some of the monuments. Some are easy fixes; others might need to be relocated to a safer spot as they have been encroached on over time.

In addition to the city, Officer Lovely credits State Rep. Daniel M. Donahue, D-Worcester, with providing resources as he worked on his project.

Now with the website up and an inventory of the condition of each square, Ms. Greenwood said she is hoping to establish an "Adopt-A-Square" program where residents or city businesses can help maintain a specific square.

"We are honoring a contract this community made with the family members who paid for these to be put up, and it is our on-going commitment — our moral obligation — to keep these monuments looking as nicely as they should," Mr. Augustus said.

In addition to honoring veterans, the project has also given insight to the history of the city and its neighborhoods.

"The unique thing about the squares is that they tell the story about what was going on in Worcester at that time," Mr. Augustus said, noting that the names on the squares indirectly tell the diverse history of immigrant groups in city neighborhoods.

"Some of these families are no longer in Worcester," Mr. Augustus said. "Maybe a niece is now in Connecticut, or a grandchild is in Nebraska, but they can go online and learn about their relatives, without physically coming to Worcester. This is bringing how we honor our veterans into the 21st century."

To enhance his site, Officer Lovely will this weekend visit each monument to attach a QR — quick response — code that can be scanned by a cellphone and automatically bring up the website for the specific square.

"Families move on, but squares live forever," Officer Lovely said. "They are a constant reminder of what Worcester was and continues to be."

"This is a site where the city can pay homage to the veterans who gave their lives for this country and still do today," Officer Lovely said.

"A family member that can no longer hold their loved one, or a friend that didn't get to say good-bye. This is a place where their loved one is honored."

Officer Lovely can be contacted through the project's website, www.worcvs.org. Need for repairs or maintenance to existing monuments may be reported to the Department of Veterans' Services at (508) 799-1041.

Contact Donna Boynton at Donna.Boynton@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @DonnaBoyntonTG